Turkey condemns Daesh terror attack on NATO convoy in Kabul

by Compiled from Wire Services

After a suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy in the Afghan capital, killing at least eight Afghan civilians in an attack claimed by the Daesh terrorist group, Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the latest terror attack. Turkish Foreign Ministry conveyed "condolences to their relatives, as well as to Afghan government and nation and wish a speedy recovery to those wounded as a result of this heinous terror attack" in a press release yesterday.

"We condemn the terror attack … against the convoy carrying NATO troops which, according to the initial information, has resulted in the loss of life of 8 persons and wounded many others," a statement said released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

The explosion, which came during morning rush hour on a busy road near the U.S. embassy and NATO headquarters, killed "mostly" civilians, an interior ministry spokesman told AFP without giving a breakdown. NATO said three coalition service members had received "non-life threatening wounds" in the attack.

"[They] are in stable condition, and are currently being treated at coalition medical facilities," a spokesman for US Forces-Afghanistan said, without confirming their nationalities.

Daesh claimed the attack in a statement carried by its Aamaq media arm. An affiliate of the terrorist group has gathered strength in recent years, and is now at war with both the U.S.-backed government and the much larger Taliban insurgency.Afghan forces have struggled to combat both groups since the U.S. and NATO officially concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014, switching to a support and counterterrorism role. The U.S. has more than 8,000 troops in the country.

The Taliban and Daesh both aspire to overthrow the Afghan government but they are fiercely divided over leadership and tactics.

The attack comes three weeks after the US dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on the militant group's hideous in eastern Afghanistan.NATO commander in Afghanistan General John Nicholson said the strike, which triggered global shockwaves, showed there was "no space" for Daesh in the war-torn country.

Monday's attack comes as the U.S. seeks to craft a new strategy in Afghanistan and NATO mulls boosting troop levels as they face a "stalemate" against the resurgent Taliban.

The blast, which Daesh said was a suicide car bomb and NATO said was an improvised explosive device (IED), damaged two of the heavily armored vehicles in the convoy and left a small crater in the road, witnesses and an AFP photographer said. MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles, which are designed to withstand large explosions, are routinely used by international forces moving around Kabul.

Nicholson has said the U.S. decision to drop the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast on Daesh hideouts in Nangarhar province last month was a "very clear message" to the group: "If they come to Afghanistan they will be destroyed".Some observers have condemned the move against a militant group that is not considered as big a threat to Afghanistan as the Taliban. Others suggested it would boost the Taliban, who have been in a turf war with Daesh in Nangarhar. The weapon, dubbed the "Mother of All Bombs", killed at least 95 militants, according to the Afghan defense ministry, but fighting in the area has continued.

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